Sunday, June 10, 2007

Musée Picasso

Sundays in Paris are always kind of sleepy... most stores are closed, as are a number of restaurants. I started the day off by going to a newly-discovered farmer's market near where I live (on Blvd Raspail). I was very happy to find one close by and even happier that it's open on Sundays! (Fortunately most farmer's markets are open on Sundays. This is good or else a lot of people might starve, including myself, since most supermarkets are closed on Sundays so if you forgot to stock up on your groceries earlier...)

Most of the museums are also open on Sundays, and it's a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Since I've been to most of the major museums (and know that I will have to go again when my family comes to visit), I decided to go check out Musée Picasso. The added benefit is that the museum is in the Marais district which, according to friends, is also one of the few areas that stays open on Sundays. And they were right. As soon as I got out of the Metro station, the streets were bustling with energy as if it were any other day. There were many cute shops as I made my way toward Musée Picasso.

There was a special exhibit on Picasso and Carmen. Apparently he was obsessed with the tragic heroine and was stalking her virtually through his paintings (so to speak). The exhibit showed a progession of his fascination through the years, and it was pretty interesting, especially since I just saw the opera for the first time not too long ago. I'm not sure how the museum is usually set up, but the special exhibit took up a good chunk of the museum, so much so that I almost missed the permanent collection. When I finally found it, it was near closing time and I had to rush through it a bit, but I still got to check out a number of masterpieces such as "Two Women Running on the Beach" (right). Overall, although Musée Picasso doesn't have as impressive a collection as the Picasso Museum in Barcelona (which is kind of hard to beat collection-wise), it's a lot more intimate. It's small enough where you can really spend some time taking in each piece and you don't feel the pressure of a crowd pushing you through (the one in Barcelona was very crowded when I went but it's definitely worth going). So Musée Picasso probably won't make it on most people's top 10 must-do's in Paris (at least not if this is your first visit and you are only in Paris for a short period), but if this is your third or fourth visit and you want to get away from the crowds at the Louvre, Musée Picasso might just be a good way to spend an afternoon (with an added bonus of shopping through the Marais).

Isn't any day with Picasso a treat in itself? The man is amazing! Having just seen the special exhibit at SF MoMa, I have gained a deeper appreciation of his brilliance. You are so lucky! (Musee Picasso was closed the last two times I was in Paris...sniff sniff).